Dumky Piano Trio Op.90 – Dvorák

“At certain points it will be like a serious song, at others like a happy dance …” This was how Dvorák described the work which he was composing at the time to a friend in 1890. The word “Dumka” (plural “Dumky”) actually describes a Slavic dance-form with a noticeable alternation between melancholic and dance-like boisterous passages. The Dumka is a recurring theme in Dvorák’s chamber music- although always only as a single movement. The unusual form of this piano trio – it has a succession of six “Dumky”, each with its own very distinctive character and great expressiveness – means that it is one of the Czech master’s best-loved works.?